UN High Commissioner Calls for Intensified Global Efforts on China's Human Rights Issues

During the 58th Human Rights Council session, UN High Commissioner Volker Turk spotlighted persistent human rights violations in China. Despite engagement with the international system, China must boost its progress on systemic issues. Turk urged global focus on abuses in regions like Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.

At the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk delivered a stern address, focusing on China's human rights record. Turk highlighted that despite China's involvement with international human rights mechanisms, substantial progress in rectifying systemic violations remains elusive, urging the international community to intensify its efforts.

Turk specifically pointed to the continuous persecution of lawyers, human rights defenders, and citizen journalists in China. "While China is engaging with the international human rights system, I refer back to my previous updates raising serious concerns and hope to see meaningful progress on these issues. I continue to make representations on behalf of lawyers, human rights defenders, and citizen journalists who have been arbitrarily detained under vague criminal offences," Turk stated.

Hong Kong's controversial national security laws also faced criticism. Turk remarked that the expansive application of these laws stifles civic space and undermines fundamental freedoms. He expanded his concerns to the Xinjiang region, referencing an International Labour Organization report that accentuates longstanding anxieties about counter-terrorism measures and labor programs.

Furthermore, Turk expressed apprehension regarding education policies and restrictions on freedom of expression, religion, and belief in Tibet. His remarks pressed for amplified international pressure on China to resolve these extensive human rights breaches and uphold fundamental rights.

China has consistently been under scrutiny for violations such as curtailing freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion. Government actions against dissent, media censorship, and activist detention continue, alongside disturbing treatment of ethnic minorities including the Uyghurs and Tibetans, with allegations of forced labor, mass detention, and cultural suppression. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)